Securities attorneys and compliance officers often recommend advisors use a formal investment policy statement with clients to help define what an advisor will provide to an individual client in terms of an investing plan, with benefits to both the advisor's firm in terms of liability and the clients themselves. On Monday, Commonwealth Financial Network announced it would offer to its affiliated representatives IPS AdvisorPro's investment policy statement (IPS) software, which allows for the creation of compliant IPS statements that integrate with MoneyGuidePro financial planning and Redtail CRM software.
In a statement, Commonwealth Financial's VP of wealth management, Gavin Morrissey (left), said that IPS AdvisorPro, founded by noted advisors Norm Boone and Linda Lubitz Boone, provides "sufficient flexibility in the investment process to capture opportunities, while helping to ensure that prudence and care are maintained in the execution of the statements." (Morrissey is a regular blogger for AdvisorOne; see his most recent posting.)
"Investment policy statements are not only a prudent best practice in private wealth management, but they are critical to relationship management, as well as an effective marketing tool," continued Morrissey.
